The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Thomas Dallal is an attorney and former photojournalist. He has worked in the Middle East as a journalist in the 1990s, later for the Palestinian negotiating team and for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. From September 2011 until two weeks ago, he worked as Team Leader, Libya, for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
Bring your lunch and join the conversation! Moderated by Diana Buttu, joint fellow at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School and the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School.